PARIS, France (CelebrityAccess) — Algerian-born singer Rachid Taha has died after suffering a heart attack in his sleep at his home in Paris on Tuesday. He was 58.
“His son Lyes, his family, his family, all his friends and his label have the regret and the immense sadness to announce the death of the artist Rachid Taha, which occurred this night following a cardiac arrest at his home of Lilac,” his family said in a statement according to French newspaper Le Monde.
A native of Algeria’s north-west coast, Taha moved to Lyon, France with his family when he was ten.
He made a reputation or himself as the lead singer of the Arabic-language group Carte de Séjour, which fused the punk rock aesthetic with traditional Algerian Maghrebi music.
In 1989, he launched a successful solo career but found little success until 1997 when his 4th album “Carte Blanche” landed at #32 on the French charts. The following year, he broke into the top ten with a live album “1,2,3 Soleils” which peaked at #4.
His work also appeared in several films, including Black Hawk Down (2001), which featured his track “Barra Barra.”
